The lawsuits alleges that Rock stole the woman's concept for his forthcoming film about African-American hairstyles.

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According to the complaint for copyright infringement and unfair competition, Regina Kimbell's 2005 documentary "My Nappy Roots" is the basis for Rock's "Good Hair," which opens Friday.

In Kimbell's feature-length film, celebrities and others discuss such hair techniques and styles as the conk, press and curl, the Afro, the Jheri curl, and dreadlocks. The film won the best documentary prize at the 2007 Hollywood Black Film Festival.

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Rock's documentary, "Good Hair," also uses celebrities to examine the lengths black women go to to keep their hair looking more like the hair of Europeans.

The lawsuit contends Kimbell, a Los Angeles resident, screened her film for Rock in 2007 on the set of Rock's TV series,
"Everybody Hates Chris." It was there, she alleges, that Rock got the idea for his own film on the same subject.

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The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles, seeks "no less than $5 million" in damages and attorneys' fees.